1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flat panel display devices and methods of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to flat panel display devices which include an improved sealing structure for preventing penetration of external moisture.
2. Description of the Related Art
A flat panel display device, such as an organic light emitting display device, on which active research has been conducted, can be thin or flexible due to its driving characteristics.
However, when external oxygen or moisture penetrates into a display unit of an organic light emitting display device, the display unit of the organic light emitting display device may deteriorate. Thus, in order to prevent external oxygen or moisture from penetrating into the display unit, a sealing structure for sealing the display unit is required.
Typically, a thin film sealing structure is widely used as the sealing structure to cover a display unit by using a plurality of layers formed by alternately stacking an organic layer and an inorganic layer. That is, the display unit may be sealed by alternately stacking the organic layer and the inorganic layer on a substrate of the display unit.
In this case, the organic layer mainly makes a flat panel display device flexible, and the inorganic layer prevents external oxygen or moisture from penetrating into the flat panel display device. Thus, in order to prevent the external oxygen or moisture from penetrating into the flat panel display device, the organic layer is disposed on an inner portion adjacent to the display unit, and the inorganic layer is disposed outside the organic layer.
However, when the organic layer and the inorganic layer are stacked, the material of an edge portion of the organic layer flows outside the edge portion of the inorganic layer, which is referred to as an edge tail. In general, when the organic layer and the inorganic layer are formed, a mask corresponding to a layer is placed on a substrate so as to form a 1 pattern. In this case, the edge tail may be formed while the material of the organic layer flows between the mask and the substrate. Thus, the external oxygen or moisture may penetrate into the flat panel display unit through the edge tail, thereby deteriorating the performance of the flat panel display unit.
Thus, in order to obtain an efficient sealing structure for preventing the penetration of moisture or oxygen, there is a need for a method of preventing the formation of an edge tail of the organic layer.